Since things are so quiet... my new car!

[RickB]

Here it is, the package my most recent Datsun 5 speed transmission comes in.
It is a 1980 Datsun 210. Rust free and just about everything works.
The battery is dead, but it may come back with a little time on the charger.
The ignition switch needs some fiddling with, but should be fixed after minimal trouble.
We will use it as an econo box for a while, then later the 5 speed will (hopefully) come out and be used in one of our spridget projects.
The thing seems like a museum piece, everything is there and it's very original. Even has the original license plates.
Runs and drives and stops good.

All for the princely sum of $500.

 

[RickB]

There was a "Garage Sale" listing on craigslist and it was close to my work so I took a look. It only popped up on my radar due to the craigslist RSS feed option searching for any posts that have "Datsun 210" in them that feeds into my iGoogle page.
Like I said above this thing is very original. It has all 4 "D" hub caps.
The only modification I could find was the addition of a new stereo.
Oil and coolant looked good so we jumped it to start and I went out on a test drive.
Through the 5 gears smooth as could be, it felt like the car hadn't actually been through the last 32 years but instead passed through a wormhole around 1985 and ended up right there at this guys garage sale.
No rust. Interior good. Weather stripping good. Dash good. Gauges work. Brakes good. Engine peppy.
No weird noises from anywhere.
He actually said "so is $500 ok?".
Sure I said, that will be fine.

 

[JOeyKnapp]

wow! What a find! I am jealous... I paid more than that for just the part of the car with all the gears in it!

 

[JodyFKerr]

https://www.nadaguides.com/Classic-Cars/1980/Nissan-Datsun/210/Deluxe-4-Door-Sedan/Values

High value for one of those is 3k and climbing. Gem of a find. You may find yourself shopping around for a transmission because you won't want to scrap that car.

 

[drooartz]

Nice find. Good use for $500.

 

[Jimflorida]

And may I say that the curvacious lines on that 210 are stunning!
Jim

 

[nomad]

And may I say that the curvacious lines on that 210 are stunning!
Jim

Agree with Jim.....I'll give you $600, Rick!

Wish I had your computer skill's, Rick, I've been looking for one for a driver.

Kurt.

 

[AN5Sprite]

it ALMOST looks likes your midget is about to devour the Datsun. If only they were a little closer and the angle was ever so slightly changed...

I'd try to turn a profit selling that 210 to a Datsun sedan enthusiast. They exist right?

 

[Gerard]

No rust. Interior good. Weather stripping good. Dash good. Gauges work. Brakes good. Engine peppy.

I know it's no beauty queen collectable car, but why don't you trade someone with a good gearbox for the car and save yourself the labor and the car at the same time. Seems a shame to turn it into a parts car just for the transmission.

 

[nomad]

No rust. Interior good. Weather stripping good. Dash good. Gauges work. Brakes good. Engine peppy.

I know it's no beauty queen collectable car, but why don't you trade someone with a good gearbox for the car and save yourself the labor and the car at the same time. Seems a shame to turn it into a parts car just for the transmission.

I agree. How about looking up a 4 speed to swap into it. The B210 cars were built for years with a stout 4 speed. If my source hasn't gone to the crusher since I was last there I may be able to get you one.

Kurt.

 

[RickB]

There are definitely 4 speeds around here cheap.
Eventually I may swap in a 4 speed, when I have the need for the 5 speed but all my projects are years from completion at the moment.

My wife is going to love driving this little guy around, it will feel sporty with the 5 speed, it has enough room for her to haul some kids around and get the groceries, it gets great gas mileage.
And I will enjoy playing with it too.
All in all, the best little econo box I've seen in years!

Then if and when she decides to let go of it I can swap in a 4 speed and either sell it or give it to one of my kids.

 

[RickB]

Wish I had your computer skill's, Rick, I've been looking for one for a driver.

Kurt.

For anyone who wonders about how to do this:

You need some sort of RSS feed reader, "Your Google homepage" or "Google Reader" are the choices I see when I do this.
I use iGoogle (My Google homepage) because I also use it for other things and I've got a google phone and gmail so it fits for me.

Do a craigslist search.

When you get the search results right (datsun 210 for example) go to the bottom of the results page and find the little orange rectangle that says: "RSS".
Click it and you will go to a page asking you where you want your feed to go.
Click that choice, I am not sure if you can start a google home page or google reader right from there if you don't have one but it's worth a try.

Now repeat this for other searches and fill up a page with the stuff and scour the countryside for Midgets and Sprites and Datsuns and whatever else you like!

 

[reddsprite]

Good find!

 

[Jim_Gruber]

Rick,

I purchased a Datsun 210 back in '94 for my son. 7 years before I'd bought Bugsy. Can was definitely fun to drive and was the perfect 1st car for a teenager. Other than the incident where he turned left to cross over a 4 lane divided and had an oncoming Oldsmobile rip off his back bumper...Car and son survived fine sans bumper for the next 3-4 years, but I remember his words, "Dad this woman was coming sooo fast and she didn't even slow down before she hit me..." He turned into a very careful driver after that and to date has never had another accident.

Now if I had known about the 5 Speed out of a 210 way back then...

 

[Guest]

No rust. Interior good. Weather stripping good. Dash good. Gauges work. Brakes good. Engine peppy.

I know it's no beauty queen collectable car, but why don't you trade someone with a good gearbox for the car and save yourself the labor and the car at the same time. Seems a shame to turn it into a parts car just for the transmission.

I agree. How about looking up a 4 speed to swap into it. The B210 cars were built for years with a stout 4 speed. If my source hasn't gone to the crusher since I was last there I may be able to get you one.

Kurt.

X3, save it.

 

[RickB]

Well I got it home today and I am afraid my wife has finally discovered what I see in cars.
We won't be getting rid of this one soon!

 

[RickB]

1st tank was regular 87 octane gas and all I did was add coolant.
It got 30.1 MPG. Mostly short back and forth trips to the store and stuff like that. No idea about freeway mpg yet.
Just added 5.4 gallons premium 92 octane to fill it up and checked things out a bit.

The vacuum advance was disconnected and plugged, do not know why so I plugged it back in.
Also checked all the plugs which look very good.
Cap and rotor are good.
It has a catalytic converter that needs to be replaced with a piece of pipe.
Pulled all the crap off the carb so I could get to it, not putting that stuff back on. Plugged unnecessary vacuum lines.

Here's the before & after pics.

 

[nomad]

Rick, you may want to keep the stock air cleaner setup. Pulls in cool air when its warm out and heated air off the manifold when its cold out. I've put 100's of thousands of miles on Datsun's and from experience always saved that feature. I just unpluged the vacuum hose with the change in seasons. Earlier Datsuns had a manual valve.

Kurt.

 

[RickB]

It would be great to know what is best gotten rid of and what is best to keep.
I agree about the standard air cleaner and will be putting it back on with a new filter. The EGR setup though? Is that really necessary?
There is no air pump on the engine at all.
It feels like it has a clogged catalytic converter.

 

[RickB]

Well I can get a replacement for the catalytic converter for $58 shipped so I'll go ahead and do that.
I've experienced the kind of symptoms of a bad one before so it's the first thing I thought of when driving this car.
Once that is done and the original air filter back in place things will be better.
That said, it's pretty nice as-is.